The subject of the invention is a motor vehicle resistant to the effects of nuclear explosion.
The physical phenomena that accompany nuclear explosion may have a destructive influence on both living organisms and technical devices, electronic ones in particular. An efficient protection against the effects of such ;explosion requires a suitably early detection of the explosion itself followed by the quickest activation of the available means of protection. There are known detection systems which employ the following phenomena accompanying nuclear explosion: electromagnetic impulse, light impulse, neutron radiation and prompt gammas.
In
A nuclear explosion detector can be a part of a motor vehicle resistant to the explosion, disclosed for example in
A vehicle according to the invention contains an explosion detector with protective actuation systems activated after an explosion is detected. The explosion detector in the vehicle consists of the converter converting gamma radiation to circuit signal and connected with the input of the electronic detection system. The vehicle electronic detection system comprises a current-voltage converter with conversion ratio of 1 µA/1 V, an eliminator which eliminates signal components whose frequencies are lower than 1 kHz and a voltage comparator. The three mentioned components of detection systems are connected in series. In the detection system the output of the signal component eliminator is connected to the first input of the voltage comparator and the second input of the voltage comparator is connected to a stabilized voltage supply with adjustable value. The protective actuation systems of the vehicle consist of an engine kill system and a system for closing vehicle air intakes. In one of the variants of the vehicle a silicon photodiode with a scintillator is employed as a gamma radiation converter.
In a another variant the vehicle has a gamma radiation converter of sensitivity equals 1 µA of the electric current per each 100 mG/h of the radiation.
In yet another variant of the vehicle the explosion detector comprises an additional source of electromagnetic radiation with wave length ranging from 670 nm to 1100 nm and intensity of at least 0.7 W/sr directed at the gamma radiation converter. Advantageously a luminescent diode located near the gamma radiation converter may act as a source of the said radiation.
The vehicle according to the invention allows for reconnoitering of radioactive pollutants, including areas with high pollution levels, while maintaining the capability for the detection of the next explosion and a timely activation of the protective actuation systems.
The invention has been presented on the attached drawings where
In exemplary nuclear explosion detector the converter 1 converting gamma radiation 2 into the current signal is the S8193 type silicon photodiode D1 with a built-in scintillator with sensitivity 1 µA of the electric current per each 100 mG/h of radiation. The electronic detection system 3 comprises a current-voltage converter with conversion ratio of 1 µA/1 V, an eliminator which eliminates signal components whose frequencies are lower than 1 kHz and a voltage comparator. The three components of the electronic detection system 3 are connected in series.
The current-voltage converter has been built on the basis of the operational amplifier U1 with very high input resistance (exceeding 1011Ω, e.g.: the TL072 type), which has a resistor R1 with 1 MΩ resistance in the feedback loop. A resistor-capacitor filter comprising a capacitor C with 1 nF capacity and a resistor R2 with 10KΩ resistance has the function of an old and slow-changing component eliminator. The second operational amplifier U1 (also the TL072 type), whose first input is connected to the output of the said resistor-capacitor filter via a matching resistor R3 with 100kΩ resistance, has the function of a voltage comparator. The second input of the amplifier U2 is connected favorably to the stabilized voltage supply of 1 V. The value of this voltage determines the explosion detector actuation threshold.
In order to allow for the detection channel testing without using gamma radiation, a luminescent diode D2, which is controlled by a test system 4, is directed at the photodiode. When requested diode D2 emits IR radiation with intensity of at least 0.7 W/sr, thereby inducing a current signal in photodiode D1 whose magnitude is similar to the signal induced by prompt gammas 2 resulting from an explosion.
The detector mentioned above may be used for the protection of a motor vehicle 5, e.g. an armored carrier. The detection of a nuclear explosion results in the generation at the output of the amplifier U2 of a short rectangular pulse whose duration is equal to the gamma radiation impulse. The said impulse triggers the microprocessor system 6 which controls the protective actuation systems, e.g.: the propulsion engine kill 8 system 7 of the vehicle 5 and the vehicle 5 air intake shutting 10 system 9. Depending on the distance from the ground zero the microprocessor system may only signal the detection of an explosion leaving the decision on the possible actions to be taken to the crew and generate a warning against a light impulse accompanying the explosion which can have a detrimental effect on the crew's eyesight.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.